Multifamily Communities

A place to call home at work

Rural Teacher Housing in Ramah

The Ramah Teacher Housing project brings much-needed rural teacher housing to the Gallup-McKinley County school district. We worked with the existing topography of the site and utilized our in-house specialized expertise to design teacher housing that improves quality of life for teachers.

A better work-life balance

In rural and spread-out school districts, commute times can greatly impact quality of life for teachers and staff. This makes it more difficult for districts to attract and retain teachers. Teacher housing adjacent to schools gives teachers an option to cut down significantly – or eliminate – their daily commute. With little to no commute, teachers can spend more time with their families.

Gallup-McKinley County School District serves almost 5,000 square miles of territory, presenting a challenge to teacher-school commute times. Dekker has been working with the Gallup-McKinley County School District for over 20 years to provide design solutions that facilitate learning and improve staff quality of life in this rural school district.

Previous rural teacher housing in Ramah was outdated, and not up to modern standards of living. We worked with the district to design updated teacher housing to improve the quality of live for teachers and their families.

Working with the topography

Designing the new Ramah Teacher Housing started with carefully choosing the site and planning the layout.

The new rural teacher housing project includes 8 duplexes for a total of 16 units, each being 2-bedrooms. The site is designed in a big circle with a pond in the middle to elicit the atmosphere of a cul-de-sac neighborhood. The site was positioned to keep the existing trees.

Because Ramah is in a rural area, the only fire department is all volunteer. With that in mind, we needed to consider an easy-to-use fire suppression system to facilitate fast emergency response times.

We worked with the existing topography to build a large water tank on top of a small hill. This water tank houses all the water for the fire suppression system. Because it is built on a slight elevation, we could install a smaller, more energy-efficient water pump.

Collaboration, expertise, and experience

We were able to work with the school county to quickly come up with design solutions and progress the design. With decades of experience both in designing similar projects, and with this school county, there was no learning curve needed to arrive at a successful design.

Another factor that led to the success of the project was the ability to utilize our in-house Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, and Structural Engineering studios. Instead of relying on the schedules of multiple subcontractors, we were able to collaborate in-house, streamlining the design process.

Gallup-McKinley School District now has additional teacher housing in Ramah that is energy-efficient, up to current code, and comfortable. This much-needed housing improves the quality of life for teachers, and helps the district attract new talent.

Client
Gallup-McKinley County School District

Location
Ramah, New Mexico

Disciplines

Beyond the Building